Senioritis

Senior Year Is Ticking Away -just Not Fast Enough

'Illness' Inflicts Most Seniors

Lets face it: We really dont feel like writing this article. We should be downtown, at the beach or anywhere else except school.

It could be the great weather or upcoming graduations, but, rest assured, were not the only ones feeling this way. Senioritis its technical name, of course is becoming an annual epidemic

The symptoms of the disease are easy to recognize: staring out the window, sleeping through class, skipping class altogether, being impatient, losing concentration, dodging responsibility and goofing off.

I want to be out of here. I want to go away. I want to go to college. And you know, when I think about it, I really dont like high school at all, Winter Park senior Naveen Seth said.

Naveen and many others are struggling with the last days of high school, those few months before finally college and freedom.

Ive had senioritis since the first day of my freshman year, said senior Jeff Hall, who maintains a 4.1 GPA at Lake Howell High in Casselberry despite senioritis symptoms. I dont do my work, and I no longer care about tests.

The disease may be worse for those who were far from the symptoms in the first place.

Winter Park senior Seema Chandra, for example, does it all. As a star debater, newspaper section editor and student in the International Baccalaureate program, Seemas senioritis came almost as a surprise.

As a perpetual procrastinator, I thought when I was a freshman that senioritis would be just an extension of my chronic laziness. However, when I suddenly realized during the first semester that I had literally papered my floor with piles of college applications, to-do lists and late assignments, I finally saw the true meaning of senioritis.

Most seniors shut down after post-graduation plans become a reality. I really started to get senioritis when I turned in my housing for college, and its at its peak right now, Lake Howell senior Katie Furlong said. Ive lost interest in virtually every aspect of school.

Raja Bhai, a senior at Deltona High, feels the same way.

I want to get out of class early. I cant stay awake in class any longer. The teachers keep giving me more work, and it makes me more of a slacker, he said. I just dont care anymore!

Despite students lack of interest, teachers still have to find ways to cram important information into brains that are focused only on the beach and college parties.

Senior English teacher Wyvonne Smith has learned to recognize the symptoms.

Senioritis starts day one after the third nine weeks and continues until graduation. Its an illness that causes selective amnesia in students and anticipation for graduation after a 13-year-long period, Smith said. Its a must that they all contract the disease.

Senioritis is often more intense than most people realize. Although there are those who have been lazy and apathetic all during high school, most seniors suddenly are experiencing a new disease for which there is only one cure: graduation!